Sharky's Machine (1981)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Burt Reynolds

Writers:

William Diehl (novel)
Gerald Di Pego (screenplay)

Release Date:

18 December 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Nobody leans on Sharky's Machine. [Theatrical]

Plot:

Tom Sharky is a narcotics cop in Atlanta who's demoted to vice after a botched bust. In the depths of this lowly division...

Plot Keywords:

Vice | Prostitution | Murder | Directed By Star | Freebasing

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe.

Cast

Burt Reynolds	...	Sgt. Tom Sharky
Vittorio Gassman	...	Victor
Brian Keith	...	Papa
Charles Durning	...	Friscoe
Earl Holliman	...	Hotchkins
Bernie Casey	...	Arch
Henry Silva	...	Billy Score
Richard Libertini	...	Nosh
Darryl Hickman	...	Smiley
Rachel Ward	...	Dominoe
Joseph Mascolo	...	Joe Tipps
Carol Locatell	...	Mabel
Hari Rhodes	...	Highball Mary
John Fiedler	...	Barrett
James O'Connell	...	Twigs

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Finland:K-16 (cut) (1982) | Iceland:16 | Sweden:15 | Australia:R | Norway:16 (1982) | Norway:18 | UK:18 (cut) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Company:

Deliverance Productions

Trivia:

The author of the book, "Sharky’s Machine", William Diehl, had a small role as Dominoe’s pimp, Percy.

Goofs:

Plot holes: On the boat, Smiley tells Sharky, "When you went to see the man, you really pissed him off... you should have just turned[Dominoe] in. She'd be dead, but Nosh, Jo Jo and all your friends would be alive." But the way the movie is edited, Nosh and Jo Jo were killed before Sharkey went to see Victor to tell him Dominoe is still alive.

Quotes:

Sharky: You know Frisco, when we used to flush the toilet upstairs, we always wondered where it came to...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Venture Bros.: Careers in Science (#1.2)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Street Life

Burt Goes In For Vice

Sharky's Machine finds Burt Reynolds as a narcotics cop who after a failed buy and bust that wasn't his fault, but that got a few people killed in it, he finds himself demoted to the vice squad in Atlanta.

The prestige is hardly as good as the narcotics beat, but it does have its fringe benefits. One night after a roundup of working girls where one of their books falls into their hands, the guys ask for surveillance on Rachel Ward's place. She's an expensive item, servicing both notorious mobster Vittorio Gassman and law and order gubernatorial candidate Earl Holliman.

Their surveillance however records a murder and the rest of the film is Sharky and his new colleagues from vice trying to solve this prestige case.

Though it's a Burt Reynolds film and those usually have some humor to them, the comedy is kept in check as the film turns as deadly serious as Dirty Harry. It was reported in fact that Clint Eastwood was offered this film.

Look for some good performances by fellow vice cops Bernie Casey and Brian Keith and by Henry Silva the coked up brother of Gassman who does the dirty work of the organization and loves his job.

It's not a bad film, a mixture of Dirty Harry and Laura. Why Laura? You'll have to see Sharky's Machine for that answer.